


Small Victories

by mysteryinc



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 04:11:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12999576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteryinc/pseuds/mysteryinc
Summary: Set immediately after V5's 'Alone Together' ep bc Weiss being all 'I know we aren't as close...' killed me. Also I love these characters and I hope it shows (':





	Small Victories

There were days she wanted to do nothing more than punch holes through walls, and nights alone where the shaking was so bad she couldn’t get any sleep.

As Weiss had helpfully pointed out, coffee existed.

She’d had more coffee in the last six months than her entire life combined. It still didn’t do much good, but when she took a sip of the drink Weiss had brought her, it helped her feel warm again. The good kind of warm, like a friend made her smile, or seeing Ruby laugh. Not the burning, red hot anger that made her blood feel like it was on fire, like acid was in her mouth.

She glanced at the cup of coffee after Weiss and Ruby had gone off together. The porcelain cup was empty now, so she picked it up, the clink of it against her metal arm another reminder of the person who wasn’t in Mistral.

It didn’t feel so bad now. Confusing, sure. But Weiss trusted Blake would come back, and she trusted Weiss.

She took the cup to the sink and as she washed out the mug, the brown ringlet of dried, sticky coffee at the bottom, she mulled over what Weiss had said.

It felt stupid to have ever assumed that Weiss and her giant family were perfect. She’d apologized once, but it didn’t feel like enough. Not after everything Weiss had done for her.

And Weiss acted like they weren’t close.

Yang wondered if that was her own fault. If she wasn’t appreciative enough, or if maybe Weiss thought Yang didn’t care about all the things she’d seen Weiss do for her.

The idea of that was uncomfortable, and her mouth curled on a frown. She set the mug aside to dry, and then leaned forward against the counter.

She needed to figure out how to prove to Weiss that she  _did_  feel close to her. That it was okay if Weiss wanted to consider them friends. That  _she_  wanted to consider them friends.

Her only hesitation was—what if she was  _wrong_? What if the reason Weiss didn’t think they were close had nothing to do with her? What if Weiss just…didn’t care about her the way she cared about Ruby and Blake?

She grit her teeth against the thoughts. Opening up to those ones would just send her down a rabbit hole she wasn’t interested in pursuing right now.

Weiss had promised she would be there for her, if Yang wanted. So the ball was in her court.

She was gonna make sure that Weiss knew how much she cared, too.

With her mind made up, she headed back to her room, rummaged through her bag for some spare change, and set her foot out the door. There was still time before Jaune, Nora, and Ren would be up, and she just needed some small scraps of metal.

She didn’t have a workshop in Mistral, but she could make do with the tool kit she had for patching up her bike.

She spent the entire morning working away at her small project, barely focusing as Ozpin and Oscar and Qrow took them through a whirlwind of tactical maneuvers for fighting Cinder and Salem’s crew.

She wasn’t ready until dinner that night, but by then, even Ruby had noticed Yang was excited about  _something_.

Finally, Yang approached Weiss. She was ready. She could do this.

She wished her heart knew that. It was racing so fast she thought her ribs would break.

“Hey, Weiss. I wanna show you something.”

She gestured for Weiss to follow her, eyes sparkling and a smile on her lips.

Weiss lifted an eyebrow, but stood up, excusing herself from the kitchen, and followed wordlessly. The eyes of the rest of the team were on them, but the stares didn’t touch Yang. Anticipation and excitement filled her chest as she led Weiss back out to the balcony where they’d shared coffee with Ruby that morning.

But it was totally transformed now. A colorful patchwork blanket lay under the dark, starry sky, and there was a picnic basket on top. Yang had dug up a frame in the house that had held stock photos for looking nice while being rented out, and figured it couldn’t hurt to stick the picture of their team in there instead. The picture frame was propped up on one corner of the blanket, and Yang sheepishly smiled as Weiss stopped dead in her tracks to stare.

She may have gone a little over the top. There were some candles out there, too, off to the side to give them some light.

Weiss slowly turned on her heel to look at Yang.

“What, exactly, is this?”

“Glad you asked, princess.” Yang strode forward, looking a hell of a lot more confident than she felt all of a sudden, and sitting cross-legged on the small quilt. “I um, I felt bad that you don’t think we’re that close, y’know? After all you’ve done for me.”

Weiss finally took a step forward, blinking as if to make sure this wasn’t some strange dream. “Y-Yang, I didn’t mean—“

“Nah, it’s okay. You were right, I mean. I’ve been out of it. And I haven’t told you how much it’s meant to me, all the stuff you’ve done. And it—it means—it means a lot. It’s meant everything. I’ve never felt this at home with anyone before, even Blake, so maybe that’s why it seems like I’m just taking you for granted, but I don’t wanna do that.”

She cleared her throat, then gestured to the spread in front of them. “Which—brings me to this, I guess.” Weiss slowly knelt onto the blanket across from her, looking bewildered, but also looking touched. “A getting to know each other dinner. So you know I care, and stuff.” She opened the basket, and pulled out a clear jar filled with dozens of paper shreds. The lid popped off easily in her hands, and she pulled out a scrap to show Weiss.

“I-I thought of a bunch of dumb questions, and stuff. Nothing heavy or anything. Just stuff so we can get to know each other, like birthdays and favorite colors.”

Weiss stifled a smile behind her hand. The paper she’d pulled did in fact ask her favorite color.

All of a sudden, she felt like her favorite color was yellow. Glancing at the warmth in Yang’s cheeks, she may have even said pink.

“I just want you to feel like you can ask me anything. Know that I trust you, and consider you a friend. My best friend, ‘cept for Ruby.”

Weiss’s heart melted, and she looked up from the small scrap of paper in her hand. “I know that, Yang. I simply wanted you to know that we’d all do for you what you did for Blake. I wasn’t certain you knew.”

Yang smiled shyly. “I do, now.”

She quickly snapped back to attention, rummaging again in her little picnic basket. Weiss absently wondered if there was actually any food in there when Yang pulled out the next item.

“A-Anyway, this is um, I made this. Today. As a thank you. And as proof that I  _do_  actually listen to you when you talk, princess.” She grinned as she presented it to Weiss.

Weiss’s eyes focused in the candlelight, and then she gasped.

Her fingers traced the smooth dents in the metal that formed tusks, around the bend, and then up the snout of the boarbatusk. The small metal figure was deceiving; it had a hefty weight to it, despite fitting in the palm of her hand.

“You  _made_  this?” she asked quietly, staring at it, turning it over in the firelight.

“Y-Yeah. Just took some scrap metal from a shop, and some work with my tools, but, it wasn’t too hard. It’s um, it’s your summon you showed us. That you made when you yelled at that woman at the party. I dunno, I mean your knight is pretty cool, but, I really liked that story. The way you stood up for Vale, for the team, for Beacon—it was pretty badass. So I wanted to make you something to remember it.”

It was becoming increasingly clear to Yang that Weiss was the type who just hugged people a lot, because suddenly, her arms were around Yang’s neck again, face buried in her shoulder.

“…thank you.”

It was a ragged, shaking whisper, but it made Yang feel like maybe she’d finally done something right.

She hugged Weiss back, cradling her head and arm around her shoulders. “Glad you like it, Weiss.”

They both smiled when they broke apart, and that felt like a victory to Yang. The first one in a long time, but one she hoped would be the first of many.

Thanks to Weiss, she knew she was finally getting better.


End file.
